1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image formation apparatus which receives print data from an external device and performs printing of the print data. In more detail, the present invention relates to the image formation apparatus which receives a request (inquiry) for print prevision before receiving the print data from the external device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there have been image formation apparatuses known to first accept a request (inquiry) for print prevision from an external device, and then receive print data from the same external device to carry out printing of the print data. Such inquiry includes, for example, asking about capability and condition of the image formation apparatuses.
For instance, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-284938 discloses an image formation apparatus which accepts a preliminary inquiry from an external device as described hereinabove. In the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-284938, a client computer inquires of a plurality of printers about capability and condition. The client computer searches for (lists) printers meeting a priority condition after acquiring the capability and condition of each printer with the response from each printer. Then, the user selects a printer for carrying out printing from the searched (listed) printers, and the client computer sends print data to the selected printer.
However, there is a problem as below in the conventional image formation apparatus described hereinabove. That is, the image formation apparatus replies about the capability and condition according to the preliminary inquiry, and then receives print data. With respect to printing of the print data, the image formation apparatus carries out, as necessary, preparation operations for the printing such as a correction process for adjusting image position and concentration deviation, a warm-up process for heating the fixation device to a predetermined temperature, etc. The image formation apparatus can not start printing until the preparation operation is completed. In other words, since the image formation apparatus starts the preparation operation after the image formation apparatus receives the image data, there is a waiting time for the preparation operation between the receiving time of the image data and the start time of the printing.